Jayden hummed along to You Are In Love (Taylor's Version) as she packed her suitcase for Los Angeles. Nationals were this weekend, and the New Directions were taking the week off from school to go to the city early – not that she was complaining, of course.
Graduation was just two weeks away. It was the beginning of the end, and the last thing she wanted was to sit in class with the people she's been stuck with since kindergarten.
She frowned when her song was interrupted by the sound of her Wildest Dreams ringtone. Skye looked at Jayden's phone, which was sitting on her desk and smiled when she saw the caller I.D.
"It's Cassie!"
Jayden gasped and dropped the shirt she was packing. She rushed over to her desk and accepted the call. "I was just about to call you!" she exclaimed.
"Really?" Cassie asked from the other end.
"Yeah! I wanted to know if you wanted to come to my nationals competition for Glee Club this weekend?" Jayden asked, her voice hopeful. She sat down on the edge of her bed, her knee bouncing a little in anticipation. Skye sat down next to her, and she held the phone between them so that she could hear, too.
"Glee Club?" Cassie raised a brow. "The same Glee Club that plays favorites and shoves you into the back, completely ignoring your talent?"
"Oh, no." Worry washed across Skye's face, her optimism fading. "She sounds upset."
Jayden took a breath to push away her nerves. "Not this time." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I-I wrote a song...Iris went with me to talk to Mr. Schue, and...he agreed to let me sing it as a solo at the competition."
Cassie gasped on the other end of the line. She leaned back in her office chair, a smile spreading across her face. "Jade, that's incredible," she said.
"Yeah, it's almost too good to be true," Bernadette grumbled. She sat down on the other side of Jayden, who put the phone on speaker so that they could all hear.
"What's the song called?" Cassie asked.
"I can't tell you that." Jayden giggled softly. She looked over at where her notebook was sitting open on her desk, the page covered in messy scribbles, doodles, and annotations. "I know it's a lot to ask with such short notice, but it would mean a lot if at least one of my parents was there this weekend."
Cassie frowned. "Your dads aren't coming?"
Jayden sighed and laid back against the mattress. She put a gentle hand on Stitch's stomach, feeling the rise and fall from his steady breathing as he slept peacefully. "They've never come to any of my competitions." She sighed. "I think they wanted to come to this one, but they got busy with work, so they won't be able to."
"If it were Rachel, they would've dropped everything to be there for her." Skye sighed sadly with a small pout.
"I'm not gonna cry about it." Bernadette shrugged. "They've made their decision, and now I have made mine. They're not our dads. We want absolutely nothing to do with them."
"Don't listen to her, Jay," Skye whispered as she gently brushed Jayden's hair out of her face. "They're proud of you. I know they are."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Jade," Cassie said, smiling. She wrote down a note for her assistant and crossed out some dates on her calendar. "I'll see you soon."
Jayden breathed out a quiet sigh in relief and smiled. "See you soon."
****
Nationals got here quicker than expected. Jayden had spent the week in Los Angeles hanging out with Iris, Leilani, and August. They'd done everything from swimming to seeing the Eras Tour movie to sneaking out past curfew to explore the city at night.
But when competition day finally arrived, all the excitement and anticipation turned into the worst anxiety Jadelynn Berry-July's ever felt in her entire 17 years of life.
"Breathe, my nervous pequeña princesa," Santana said softly as she walked up behind Jayden and hugged her shoulders. She put a hand on her bouncing knee to still it and kissed her cheek before sitting down next to her at the vanity. "Is your mom here yet?"
"Not yet." Jayden sighed as she brushed a make-up brush across her cheek. "She's stuck in traffic, but she should be here soon." She applied a layer of dark red lipstick, gasping in protest when Santana snatched it from her. "Tana! Give that back."
"This is so not your color, tater tot." Santana reached for a make-up remover wipe. She held the younger girl's chin and wiped the lipstick off before replacing it with a lighter pink color. "There. That's much better."
"4 years later and you're still babying me." Jayden giggled softly.
"4 years later and you're still my baby," Santana replied, smirking when Jayden blushed. "How much time do you have before you're supposed to perform?" she asked. "I'd say we have time for a quickie in the girl's bathroom if we sneak away now."
"Keep it in your pants, Santana, that is my daughter you're talking to," Cassandra July said as she walked backstage. Jayden jumped up and ran to hug her mom.
Santana raised her hands in surrender and stood up. "I'll go save you a seat, Ms. July," she politely said. "Break a leg, Jay-Jay."
"Thanks, Tan-Tan." Jayden smiled at her girlfriend. She pulled out of her mom's embrace and sat back down to finish up her hair and make-up, her knee resuming its anxious bouncing.
"So, on a scale of 1 to choking like your sister..." Cassie began as Jayden stifled a laugh, "how nervous are you?"
"Um...I'd say maybe 8," Jayden confessed as she took a curling iron to her hair. "I'm not so nervous that I think I'm gonna forget the words, but I'm nervous enough to feel like I'm gonna throw up on stage like that girl in Pitch Perfect."
"Why is that?" Cassie asked.
Jayden sighed. She set the curling iron down and rested her hands in her lap, her gaze fixated on the bottom row of lights on the mirror of the vanity. "This is my last competition...It means a lot to everyone that we win, and Sue said she'd cancel the club if we didn't...But knowing Sue Sylvester, she'll probably cancel it either way." Jayden leaned back in her chair. "I just...I really don't want to let anyone down..." She looked up at her mom. "Especially you."
Cassie smiled softly. She reached out and placed a gentle hand on her daughter's knee to stop it from bouncing. "You're not going to let anyone down, Jade. I've seen how amazing your writing is. You're incredible. I mean, you wrote that song for nationals 2 years ago when you were 15. That's a lot of talent for someone your age."
"I think this song is gonna blow Who Are You out of the water," Jayden said, nodding. "I'm really proud of how it turned out."
"I can't wait to hear it." Cassie smiled when Jayden did too. "But, before you go on stage...I have something for you."
Jayden watched curiously as Cassie took a folded up sheet of paper out of her purse. She took it when she handed it to her and carefully unfolded it, a small gasp falling from her lips as she read the letter.
"Congratulations, Jadelynn Berry-July on your NYADA acceptance," Cassie said as tears of joy filled Jayden's eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand, breathing out as she reread the letter a second and third time. "I was gonna make you wait until the letters went out in the mail, but I figured I could make an exception for you."
"Take that, Rachel Barbra Berry." Bernadette smirked cockily and crossed her arms. "We got in on our first try."
"Jade!" Blaine called to the dancer, who turned to look at him. "Come on. It's time to perform."
Jayden took a shaky breath. She set her acceptance letter down on the vanity and hugged Cassie tight.
"Go out there and show that crowd what a real performer looks like," Cassie said, smiling proudly at her daughter.
"I won't let you down, Mom," Jayden promised as Cassie's heart melted.
"Awe!" Skye cooed and placed her hands to her chest. "She called her 'mom'!"
Jayden rushed over to the New Directions. She whispered the good news to Iris, who gasped excitedly and pulled her into a tight hug. Mr. Schue led them through their final show circle. They all put their hands into the middle and threw them up, the seniors shouting 'Aaaaamazing!' for the last time.
Jayden brushed her sweaty hands down her dress. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears, and her world seemed to move in slow motion as she stepped out onto the stage. The curtain opened, and a bright spotlight shined down upon her.
She scanned the audience for her mom, Santana, and Oliver. She smiled softly when her son waved to her with a huge grin. Her shaky hands reached for the mic, and she sucked in another shaky breath as the music started.
(if you can, i highly recommend listening to the song while reading)
"We move too fast," she sang, the nervousness evident in her voice. "We miss so much. We seldom see all the miracles in front of us: a warm embrace, a human touch."
Jayden closed her eyes. She pictured herself in Santana and Brittany's arms. She imagined Oliver and Stitch running around the backyard in the sprinklers. She captured the feeling of being safe with those she loved the most.
"And so it goes...I race around; search high and low for the truth I used to know...when there was magic to be found."
She opened her eyes and was met with Santana's mocha orbs. She felt her nerves slowly disappearing, and she was more confident in the words she was singing.
"Cause finding Wonderland is taking time to see the child within who's always been there smiling back at me. So when I close my eyes, I just remember and...I can't help finding Wonderland."
Jayden's eyes lit up when she noticed a familiar blonde walk into the auditorium.
"It's not too late; here in my prime." Her anxiety was completely gone now. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she watched Brittany sit down in the empty seat next to Santana, an excited Oliver crawling into her lap. "Hearts can un-break in the story's nick of time. A happy ending. A perfect rhyme. Cause finding Wonderland is finding who you are: the child within who's always been there like a shining star. So when I close my eyes, I see forever, and I keep on finding Wonderland."
The New Directions filed onto the stage, vocalizing in the background as Jayden finally had her moment in the spotlight.
"Ordinary magic happens every single day. Wonderland is never far away." Happy tears filled Jayden's eyes, a warm, fuzzy feeling taking over her body. "Cause finding Wonderland is going home again. To feel the love another gives and giving back and then. If you should lose your way, reach out for someone's hand, and you'll be finding Wonderland."
Jadelynn's life had been anything but easy. She faced all the highs and lows and collected mental health issues like pokemon. But right here, right now as she poured her heart and soul into what she thought was her best song yet, she felt truly at peace.
Maybe it does get better after all.
"You'll be finding Wonderland."
The audience roared with cheers, everyone rising to their feet as they applauded the singer on stage. Out of all the voices, she could hear Santana and Brittany's the clearest – almost as if they were the only people in the room.
Jayden took a small curtsy, the brightest smile on her face as she took her place for the next number. She didn't care anymore if they won or lost. She spent the best four years of her life performing in the Glee Club and made the most amazing memories with the most incredible people she's ever met.
That's something not even Sue Sylvester can take from them.
****
****
a/n
nationals!
jade's graduating soon 🥺
she called cassie "mom"! 🥹
and brittany made it! 😭
thoughts?